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Both of Tom Hanks' performances ignored by Hollywood voters this year

I do not think Tom Hanks has been remembered at Oscar time since "Cast Away," and that was a 2000 film, if I recall.

This year, there were a large number of splendid performances on film. That said, I feel that Hanks' leading work in "Captain Phillips" ranks with his best performances.

And while the film had flaws, I also was impressed with Hanks' supporting performance as the very real Walt Disney in "Saving Mr. Banks" -- a movie that will forever change the way that you view the Disney musical "Mary Poppins" with your family.

Regardless, neither of Hanks' performances earned enough votes.

Presently, I think that the latter film might be held over another week at Cinemark's Movies 16.

But on the off chance it is not, here is my short comment about "Saving Mr. Banks:"

Saving Mr. BanksKerns Rating: Four stars.

Though a tad overlong, this is a fascinating look at the battle fought by Walt Disney to bring “Mary Poppins” to the big screen. Rights were held by writer P.J. Travers, seemingly a humorless, British control freak who needed the money -- and if that sounds harsh, listen to the recordings played over closing credits. Granted script approval, Travers did not want Dick Van Dyke, dancing penguins or the color red in any film made from her book. Even so, Tom Hanks as Disney, and Emma Thompson as Travers, make their battle alternately gripping and charming. B.J. Novak and Jason Schwartzman both stand out as the songwriting Sherman brothers. But it is Hanks’ Disney, and a driver played by Paul Giamatti, who want to know more about this sad woman. A bit of research helps the medicine go down, and director John Lee Hancock’s Australia flashbacks with Colin Farrell finally help all understand why Mary is so important to Travers. Overlooked by Oscar voters, the film at times borders on supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.